The new executive in charge of the city’s Tricentennial celebration sought to reassure City Council members Tuesday that despite its bumpy start, the event still is on track and predicted it will put San Antonio on a world stage.

Assistant City Manager Carlos Contreras has held his new role as interim Tricentennial CEO for only a week, following the abrupt resignation of Edward Benavides amid criticism over a lack of funding and the commission’s contracting process.

Reporting to the council for the first time, Contreras said he would alert the council if he finds any indications of improper past activity.

He said a media partnership with KSAT-TV should have been put up through a competitive bidding process for the sake of transparency and fairness, but did not constitute a violation of the law or city policy, he said.

Officials have said the celebration planned for all of 2018 has achieved about 60 percent of its private fundraising, having collected $6.1 million toward a $10.3 million goal.

After trimming the event’s budget, and with the backing and in-kind staff support of the city and Bexar County, the Tricentennial Commission still could put San Antonio in a global spotlight by raising less than $3 million by the time the community observes the 300th anniversary of its founding in early May 2018, Contreras said.

“We’re talking about being on the world stage as we go into 2018,” he told the council’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee on Tuesday.

Overall, he said, the public-private Tricentennial budget, now at $21.7 million, is about 87 percent funded with nearly $18.9 million accounted for.

But not everyone was convinced that all is well.

Calling the presentation a “City Hall two step,” City Councilman Greg Brockhouse said he wasn’t buying the argument that the Tricentennial has been anything but a disaster.

“It is deeply troubling. There are a lot of problems with what’s going on,” said Brockhouse, who called for the commission to immediately cancel the KSAT agreement.

“I’d like to have that discussion in executive session,” he said.

The meeting was the first public exchange since the Nov. 13 resignation of Benavides, whose brother is a producer at KSAT. That agreement and others for the Tricentennial will undergo an audit that focuses on finances while addresses contracting issues.

Last month, the San Antonio Express-News reported that former Chief Operating Officer Asia Ciaravino worked out terms of the exclusive media partnership with KSAT months before the commission put out a request for proposals. Ciaravino copied Benavides on emails related to the KSAT negotiations.

Other issues of concern raised by council members were a lack of communication with the city and a vague understanding among many San Antonians about the celebration and what the milestone year represents.

Contreras said the commission plans to report to the council in mid-December on upgrades to the Tricentennial Web site, sanantonio300.org.

The celebration’s four components are history and education, arts and culture, community service and a “Commemorative Week” with daily events to be held May 1-6, on the anniversary of the founding of Mission San Antonio de Valero and the nearby presidio and villa.

The exchange between Contreras and Brockhouse at times got heated.

“It’s an issue of leadership, sir,” Brockhouse said, alluding to “systemic issues” tied to the resignation of Benavides, who reported to an oversight committee composed of the Tricentennial Commission’s five co-chairs.

“Edward is not the issue here,” Contreras replied.

Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran requested more information on the commission’s decisions, and frequent updates on plans and fund-raising efforts.

“We want this to be great. And we know it will be,” she said. “This is our moment for the city.”

Contreras said $800,000 in reductions to the Tricentennial budget were related to New Year’s Eve events that will kick off the landmark year.

By cutting entertainment and other contracted expenses for that night, the cost for the New Year’s party was lowered by $400,000, to $1.1 million. Also, a New Year’s event called Ingite 300, earlier planned as a fund-raiser, now is a privately sponsored, invitation-only event, saving another $400,000.

REO Speedwagon, Pat Benetar and the Last Bandoleros are expected to perform at the Dec. 31 party downtown, although they have not been officially announced.

REO Speedwagon and Pat Benetar are requesting an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to exempt details of their contracts, including dollar amounts and “nonmonetary compensation,” from disclosure provisions of the Public Information Act.

Councilman Cruz Shaw said he wanted to focus on moving the celebration forward, even though it has not had the same level of planning as the 1968 World’s Fair — HemisFair ’68 — when the city marked its 250th anniversary as a settlement of New Spain.

Lessons learned from the Tricentennial will help San Antonio in the future, Shaw said.

Scott Huddleston is a veteran staff writer at the San Antonio Express-News, covering military and veterans affairs, history and preservation. He has been a reporter at the Express-News since 1985, covering a variety of issues, including public safety, flooding, transportation and local government. Scott covered the final construction phase of the SBC Center -- now AT&T Center, where the Spurs play -- in 2002, and wrote a weekly historical feature, "Then&Now" for the Sunday Metro section from 2001-2006.